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  There were several silent nods around the table because the marshal was correct. The fleets of the Alliance were stretched to their thinnest levels in years. One of the primary shipbuilding yards had just been destroyed in a recent Coalition attack, and population levels were struggling to keep up with the numbers of bodies required to fill slots in the armed forces.

  Rumours had already started that there were talks underway to pull back the Reach Guard and their Sanctuaries to a more defendable position, and with this new world beyond The Reach, there were many who asked if reinforcing an already precarious position was the smartest course of action.

  “Grand Marshal,” The Princess, with the assistance of her cane slowly rose from her chair at the end of the table. “I understand our forces are bending, but they are not breaking. I realise that we are in a precarious position, but so too are my brother’s forces. We have all suffered through these long years. Our beloved Etelainen is a shell of the once majestic collection of systems it once was. The Core, once the centre of the Empire, has all but been wiped out after countless attempts by both sides to conquer it. Jarosis has traded hands more than ten times, and every victor is left with an even more hallowed prize at the end.

  “This discovery, of a world untouched by the war that we have been waging, is something we must embrace. We need to inject some hope into the citizens of the Alliance. We need fresh blood, and new ideas to help us move forward, in either peace with or victory over the Coalition.” The princess sat down and rested her cane against the table. “We must treat this civilisation like an animal abandoned by its mother. Without us it will certainly fall prey to another predator, most likely the Coalition.”

  3

  Thirty minutes before the scheduled meeting aboard the alien spacecraft that had just landed in the waters off Lasqueti, Joe had called together the remainder of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Post-Detection Task Group for a cup of coffee in one of the heated tents the Canadian army had set up adjacent to Rhea’s families house.

  Joe and Doctor Beck, the tweed-wearing Canadian arrived first, fresh off their stroll from the beach. Doctor Sarah Chan, the media expert, walked in shortly after that with her attention focused on a tablet held in her right hand, and an iPhone in her left. It always amazed Joe how good the Chinese media specialist was at walking around looking like she was never looking where she was going and never bumping into anything.

  Doctor Lysa Jannsen, the tall Dane, arrived with Doctor Ji-woon, both discussing something about infrared astronomy, which was something that completely confounded Joe.

  Rhea was the last team member to arrive with her parent’s dog Toby close behind her. He had become the de facto mascot for the team, and everyone welcomed his presence.

  With the notable exception of the three men that had sided with Doctor Stephenson in Paraguay, only Lisa Lee was absent by choice. Lisa had taken a lucrative job in New York and left the team just after the arrival of the rescue fleet and the drama past Mars. Tragically Doctors Lau and Temple were both gone, and left had a hole in the team that was proving hard to fill.

  Bobby had been the only other youngish, free-spirited male that Joe really felt comfortable hanging around, and Megan Lau’s matriarchal presence had always helped steady the ship when needed.

  The team certainly wasn’t what it had been months ago at their first gathering in Lima, and Joe had just received another revelation that was sure to get everyone’s attention.

  “I’ve got a bit an announcement to make before we head down to the shore, nothing major, but it is something to think about.” Most of the team were listening to Joe while attending to other tasks. “I spoke with the head of the SETI program at Berkley last night, and he informed me that they are shutting down their search-related programs, and turning their attention to post detection relations, and we’re the spearhead of that effort, and we’ve been redesignated as the Visitor Liaison Team.”

  Joe gave the room a quick look before locking eyes with Rhea. “Cool, but what does that really mean?”

  “Good question. In simplest terms, the people at Berkley are going to be the focal point for continued studies on the alien presence, and will probably be beefing up our team in the coming weeks. We can expect the usual support from the UN and the Canadian and US governments for now, so this shouldn’t affect us too seriously.”

  Joe checked his watch and took another bite of an apple he had been slowly working on. What his colleagues didn’t realise just yet was that in the next month there would be hundreds of scientists, all vetted by Berkley coming up to Lasqueti to work under the direction of the current team members. The operation was about to expand very rapidly.

  Finishing off his apple, he tossed it towards the closest waste bin, only for it to bounce off the rim and fall on the floor. Before he could pick it up, Rhea was there and tidied up his mess. “He shoots, he misses.” She smiled as she gave his shirt a tug pulling him closer. She winked and gave him a kiss. Smiling, she gave him another kiss him on the cheek and turned and walked towards the exit of the tent. “Shall we head off?’

  4

  The walk down to the water always proved a rather relaxing journey, even if the air temperature was just a few degrees above freezing. There were still plenty of leaves on the trees that swallowed the trail, keeping it permanently in the shade.

  The newly branded VLT had been joined by Communications Officer Ranix, who was still waiting on word of the Epsilons fate, for the introduction to the Alliance Contact Group.

  Ranix had mentioned that Admiral Taark would be returning to Traxis later that day, but he would be leaving being a portion of the forces that he had arrived with to keep Earth safe in the event of a return of Coalition forces. He also mentioned the inevitability of the crew of the Epsilon departing as well. Taark was going to send back a recovery ship to take the Epsilon back to be repaired, but before that happened, the bulk of the crew would be returning to their home worlds for some rest before being possibly reassigned throughout the fleet.

  When the group reached the beach, they were met by a crew member of the PCS who identified themselves as the ships Master Doctor. He activated a translation device and tossed it into the air where it began to hover.

  “I would like to make your dealings with our Contact Group a little easier.” The alien opened a bag at his side and pulled out something that looked like a pencil case, which he opened to display several round metallic objects. “These are designed to allow you to speak in Universal.”

  Keegan went over to the alien and peered closely at the case in his hand. “Exactly how do these work?”

  “They attach to your cerebral cortex and allow your brain to automatically translate Universal, and then speak it. We’ve discovered that your vocal chords are sufficiently complex to handle such a task.”

  Keegan adjusted his glasses, righted himself, and looked back at the group, then looked back at the alien. “Alright.” He nodded before giving the little circular devices another glance. “Let’s give it a try.”

  Doctor Ji-woon stepped forward and whispered into Keegan’s ear. “Are you sure about this? This is like hacking your brain.”

  Keegan turned and smiled. “A small sacrifice to enter the history books.” He looked back at the alien and gave him a nod.

  “If you would gather around, I will show you how this works.” The creature said. “This will also allow you to spend short periods of time on the PCS without any need for respirators or any other breathing apparatus.”

  The remainder of the team circled around Keegan and the alien, some with looks of concern on their faces, while Doctor Jannsen seemed rather eager to watch this evolutionary process.

  The alien picked up one of the small devices, not much bigger than a human thumbnail, and placed it behind Keegan’s left ear. Withdrawing his hand, the device did nothing for a few seconds before emitting a low beep while flashing blue light on its back and then nothing.

  “As we speak
, a nano-cable is working its way to your cortex where it will sink with your language centres, and upload our entire language to you. This process will take only a few seconds.”

  Keegan looked at the alien, “I don’t feel anything.”

  “Nor should you. The device is equipped to administer a local anaesthetic. We programmed the devices based on human physiology, so they should be harmless.”

  “Should be?” Ji-woon interjected. “You’re hacking his brain with this. Instead of learning your language you’re force-feeding it to him in seconds. It’s not natural.”

  The Master Doctor reached out and grabbed the hovering translation device. “No it isn’t natural, but it is efficient.” He turned the machine off and looked at Keegan. “Can you understand me?”

  His question was in Universal and was not understood by the team, but without any hesitation, Keegan responded. “I can.” In Universal.

  He looked at Joe, “Holy shit.” He was back into English. “That’s incredible. It felt natural.”

  Five minutes later the entire team had been hardwired with the tiny little translation device. They had been told that the device could be removed as they saw fit, and could be reinstalled as frequently as they desired, but it was not recommended for a variety of safety reasons.

  Walking down to the water’s edge, Joe couldn’t help but notice that whoever was in command of the PCS had shown a significant amount of reserve by not deploying any visible security around the ship. It appeared unguarded, and the bridge that had been set up earlier that morning had been left unattended. A section of Canadian soldiers had been on the beach since the morning and must have been enough to convince the commander of the ship that it was secure.

  As the group made their way down the bridge towards the ship, there was a palpable sense of tension in the air. While this was not the teams’ first encounter with off-world visitors, it was the first visit of such a formal nature. The meeting with Admiral Taark was even more low-key than this session. This was the first time that the representatives of Earth were meeting with the official representatives of the Alliance, and it was this meeting that was only second in importance to the first encounter Joe had had with the Sentinel Commander months ago.

  Reaching the hull of the ship, Joe could see the alien that had been on the beach earlier that day waiting for them, this time its four eyes looking in four different directions, something that really weirded Joe out.

  Once onboard they were greeted by another alien. “Major Hunt, welcome to the Planetary Command Ship Ataries. I am the Assistant Ship Master. Please follow me.”

  The alien turned sharply and started walking down the spacious hallway that connected to the front of the ship. As Joe followed, he could sense how grand the scale of the ship was compared to the Epsilon. Once they were through the first chamber, they entered into a cavernous stadium like section of the ship with tiers upon tiers of stations rising up from the floor reaching almost to the top of the compartment, which must have run nearly one hundred yards in length. It was a massive chamber filled with hundreds of crew members.

  In the centre of the space was a high area that must have been 20 metres high and was shaped like a saucer. At the base was a pad that the team was ushered onto before it rose off the ground and made its way to the top of the dish.

  The pad had no railings, and Rhea leaned over the side and looked back to the level they were leaving. Once her assessment was completed, she looked at Joe with a quizzical look before looking at the Assistant Ship Master. “Excuse me. How are we going up?”

  The alien looked at her and smiled. “I’m afraid we are not yet able to divulge any technical information to you at this stage, but in layman’s terms, this ship is equipped with some of the most advanced magnets in the Alliance.”

  Rhea looked back over the edge and noted that there were indeed no signs of any propulsion system or rods pushing the platform upwards.

  “Ingenious.”

  When the platform finally came level with the top plain of the saucer, the team stepped off onto what looked similar to the bridge of the Epsilon, albeit much larger. There were several stations in two columns leading to a station with flight controls identical to Rais’s, and a pair of two raised chairs to the stations immediate rear, and in between the other stations.

  At the very end of the saucer was a large metallic looking table with stools arranged around it, and on one side, a group of six individuals, all dressed in tight white rubbery looking suits.

  The Assistant Ship Master signalled for the VLT to the side of the table opposite from the group in white, and then quickly turned and left the two groups in an awkward silence.

  Joe looked at Rhea, who was standing next to him, and then back to the two-metre wide table, coughed once, and broke the ice. “Good morning. How are you finding our lovely little planet?” He asked with a smile on his face.

  He turned, gave his stool a glance, and looked back at the group in white. “Do you mind?” He didn’t wait for a response before sitting down.

  His actions were quickly followed by the remainder of the team. Rhea gave him a gentle tap on his arm before leaning in. “I hope these translation things are working.”

  “No shit.” He whispered back.

  Once the members of the team had all sat, the alien in the centre of the group standing opposite them, a Floxian, from the looks of him, also sat down. His complexion was a much deeper blue than Ranix’s, but Joe was still pretty sure they were of the same species.

  One of the Alliance Contact Group members at the end of the table chuckled to themselves before looking at the Floxian in the centre. “Major Hunt was just admiring your skin tone.”

  Joe shot back in his stool, then looked across at the alien who had just said that then at Rhea, while the rest of the team looked at him.

  Finally, the Floxian across from Joe spoke up. “I’m sorry to startle you, Major Hunt, but my colleague is psychic.”

  Joe leant forward and rested his right forearm on the table, “Well that’s a nifty party trick, but where I come from, that’s not the kind of thing you keep from someone whose trust you’re trying to earn.”

  “I apologise.” The alien stood, “I am Sector Prefect Dinalis, and this is Alliance Contact Group Three.”

  Joe took the lead from the alien and also stood. “That’s quite alright. I am Major Joseph Hunt, and this is the Visitor Liaison Team.”

  Dinalis sat back down, followed by Joe.

  “I want to thank you on behalf of the Alliance for the kindness you showed the crew of the Epsilon. Many species would not have been so generous.”

  Joe laughed. “I can assure you that not every human is either.”

  “Nonetheless, we are here to establish more formal relations between our two cultures.”

  Joe nodded, “That sounds very agreeable.”

  “Excellent.” Dinalis picked up the datapad that had been sitting on the table in front of him. “Let us begin.” He swiped one of his long fingers over the pad and smiled at Joe, showing off the hundreds of little teeth in his mouth. Just like Ranix, Joe thought to himself before giving the psychic at the end of the table a bit of a stare.

  “Our situation here is a little more complicated than your standard first contact. You’ve already done that with the crew of the Epsilon, and in addition to that there is the threat of the return of Coalition forces.” He set the pad down and looked at Joe. “With that in mind, we’ll go about this process in a little more unorthodox process than we usually would.”

  “Alright.”

  “Since we did not seek out this encounter, and since it was made by chance, I am required to ask if you request us to leave your world, and your system.”

  The question was a bit of a shock to Joe. He had always expected this meeting to involve a bit of back and forth negotiations, but he hadn’t expected to be offered a blank check like that so readily.

  Joe looked at Rhea on his right, then to Keegan on his left, then
back to Dinalis. “Can you allow me a moment to confer with my team?”

  Dinalis leant back on his stool and nodded.

  Joe stood up, and turned away from the table and walked to the edge of the level they were on, which had a small railing running around the edge. He leant forward and looked at the hundreds of crew members who were manning a myriad of stations around the amphitheatre-like room they were in.

  He turned around and looked at the group. Keegan was standing closest to him.

  “What do you think?”

  Keegan checked his bowtie and cleared his throat. “This is too epic an opportunity to pass on. We have to grab onto their coattails and ride them wherever the cosmos takes us.”

  Joe looked at Charles Ji-woon. “He’s right. We can learn more in five years from them than we could in a lifetime on our own. They’ve shown us no hostility yet, and I trust them.”

  Doctor Jannsen agreed with her colleagues, but for a different reason. “What if the Coalition returns? We can’t defend ourselves against a race that technologically advanced.”

  Rhea chimed in. “They’re all right.” She looked at Joe and squeezed his hand. “Right now we have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.”

  Joe looked at the team's media expert, and last to speak. “I’ll never find a bigger story than this.” She said with a smile on her face.

  “Then it’s settled. And I think that our benefactors would agree with this decision.” Joe knew that the people at Berkley, the White House, and at the UN all wanted improved relations with the Alliance, but had left the final decision to Joe and his team.

  As Joe sat back down, he looked across the table and continued the conversation. “So Sector Prefect, where do we go from here?”

  The Prefect smiled, mini-teeth and all. “Excellent.” He tapped a button on the table, and a three-dimensional holographic map of the Sol System appeared above the table surface. “The first order will be to secure your planet from future Coalition attacks, or from any other unidentified threat emanating from beyond The Reach.”